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FEATURE

The New York Times has published an analysis today of foods and goods uncovered and/or rejected by the FDA (that 'we inspect less than one percent' agency...) by country.

The winners?

India and Mexico:

At a time when Chinese imports are under fire for being contaminated or defective, federal records suggest that China is not the only country that has problems with its exports.

In fact, federal inspectors have stopped more food shipments from India and Mexico in the last year than they have from China, an analysis of data maintained by the Food and Drug Administration shows.

So, what is going on here?

According to a graph put together by the NYT, based on FDA data, here are some stats:

Country

Shipments Turned Away

Most Frequent Violation

India

1763

Salmonella

Mexico

1480

Filth

China

1368

Filth

Dominican Republic

828

Pesticides

Denmark

543

Mislabeled candy

Vietnam

533

Salmonella

Japan

508

Missing documentation

Italy

482

Missing documentation

Indonesia

460

Filth

Carl R. Nielsen, former FDA Director of the Division of Import Operations and Policy: "The reality is, this is not a single-country issue at all, What we are experiencing is massive globalization."

What we are experiencing is massive globalization.

The F.D.A. database does not necessarily capture a full and accurate picture of product quality from other countries. For one thing, only one year of data is available on the agency’s Web site, and F.D.A. officials declined to provide more data without a formal Freedom of Information request, a process that can take months, if not years.

In addition, the F.D.A. inspects only about 1 percent of the imports that fall under its jurisdiction. So the agency may miss many of the products that are contaminated or defective.

[snip]

An F.D.A. plan to revamp the way it inspects imports, called the Import Strategic Plan, was completed in 2003, but shelved because of budgetary constraints, several former F.D.A. officials said.